Deadly Notions - By Elizabeth Lynn Casey Page 0,47
Milo rolled his eyes skyward. “I just don’t get adults sometimes.”
“I know. But Jackson basically paid homage to Sally and her party, which didn’t sit well with Ashley.”
Milo held the bakery bag in the air and cocked his head toward the logo. “A woman who makes muffins like Debbie does isn’t capable of murder. Not unless her family was threatened.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him.
“Threatened with physical harm,” he rushed to amend.
“I agree.” Her gaze strayed down to the next name. “Okay, next we have Margaret Louise.”
Milo’s hand paused on the open bag. “You don’t sound as confident about her.”
“Oh, I am, from the standpoint I believe she didn’t do it but . . .” Her words trailed off as he pulled a blueberry muffin from the bag and set it on a napkin in front of her spot. “That looks good.”
“I’m glad.” He reached into the bag again and extracted a large to-go cup. “And your hot chocolate.”
“Thank you.” Looking down at the cup, she willed her thoughts back to the subject at hand, the guilt she felt over doubting Milo making it difficult to think. “But she was the most vocal about wishing she could strangle Ashley. She said it before the party to Melissa, she said it at the sewing circle meeting prior to the party, and she said it under her breath more than a few times at the actual party itself. Though it was always on the heels of something truly nasty Ashley said or did.”
“Yet you don’t think she’s a viable suspect?”
She stared at Milo as he pulled his own muffin from the bag. “And you could think otherwise? C’mon, Milo, you know Margaret Louise. She may grumble when her family comes under fire and she may be overly protective of her grandkids, but she’s also one of the most genuine people on the face of the earth. She wouldn’t take someone’s life.”
“I know. I just felt I should ask.”
“Well, she’s innocent. But my worry is about the stress Chief Dallas will heap on her thanks to the conversations Regina Murphy no doubt shared.” She lifted the muffin to her mouth and took a small bite. “Which moves us still further down the list to”—she looked at the page for confirmation—“Leona.”
“Leona,” Milo echoed. “Tell me again why she was even at Sally’s party? She’s not exactly what could be called a fan of little kids.”
Tori shrugged. “But she’s Sally’s great aunt and Melissa’s aunt-in-law and, well, she’s nosy. I suspect she wanted to see the woman she’d been hearing about at our sewing circle.”
“Ashley?”
“Ashley,” she confirmed. “The stuff Margaret Louise shared about her was the reason the next two showed up as well.”
She followed Milo’s gaze back to the notebook. “Rose and Dixie?”
“Rose was disgusted by Ashley’s behavior, there’s no doubt about that. But she can also barely open her sewing box by herself let alone hold a rope around the neck of a woman half her age.”
“And Dixie?”
“Dixie is Dixie. She doesn’t act like she likes anyone.”
“Throw in the fact she had an ax to grind with the victim and, well, that ups her dislike factor immensely.”
She stared at Milo. “What are you talking about?”
“Nothing major, but certainly a reason Dixie knew and disliked Ashley Lawson.” Milo plucked a small cup of coffee from the bag and lifted it to his lips, his eyes closing momentarily as he took a long gulp.
“I’m not following.”
He shrugged. “A month or so after she retired from the library, Dixie showed up at a school board meeting asking if she could come in as a reader. She felt her experience as a librarian over the past four decades made her a natural with kids.”
“Go on,” she prompted, her curiosity aroused.
“At first the board members seemed to like the idea. They even tossed around the idea of maybe paying her a little money to come in a few times a week. Just to assist with the kids in some of the younger grades—kids who might really have benefited from a little extra reading assistance.”
“Okay.”
“Then they changed their mind.”
Tori leaned forward. “Why? It seems like it could have been a win-win for Dixie and the teachers.”
“It was. Only the teachers weren’t asked for input. The board made the final decision. And according to a few of my sources, there was one member who felt Dixie was too old and too negative to work with the children.”
She felt her mouth gape open. “She may be negative with adults but have